Newton Abbot - lovely places nearby for a day out shopping?

[Fannydango]

Going away with the whole family in the summer. The grandparents love a day out shopping but would love to visit some pretty towns with independent shops rather than a generic high street. They also love a good market! Can anyone please recommend anywhere close to Newton Abbot?

In my head, the whole of Devon is beautiful with lots of lovely chocolate box villages but I don't know the area at all so I could be very wrong!

Totnes

Agree with Totnes!

Thank you!

Yes Totnes I also like Darts Farm which is a posh farm shop place near Exeter or Dartington shops which is similar.. Newton Abbot isn't chocolate box but is handy for lots of lovely places. House of Marbles is an interesting cafe/shop nearby. OH is from nearby and we often go down to visit family

Absolutely Totnes... Ashburton also pretty good if you like antique shops!
Cockington is pretty and has a craft villageof independent craft studios as well.

As long as the Grandparents are fit enough to climb the hill and the children are not in pushchairs Totnes will be fine. Dartmouth is on the level.

Totnes definitely but also Chagford on the edge of Dartmoor. About half an hour from Newton Abbot.

Thank you, some great suggestions!

@Pellewsmate hmm, no buggies but although grandparents are mobile, they're finding hills a bit more tricky nowadays. Is Totnes all on a hill?

Totnes main street is a very steep hill... BUT there is a car park at the back of the town square about half way up which means you can go to the market / shops on the sqaure all on the level and it's not too steep going up from there to the top of the main street.

Thank you @Pebble21uk

Salcombe and Dartmouth are lovely, also Bovey Tracey

Thank you @marchionessofMayhem

Drive over Dartmoor to Tavistock. About an hour’s drive but the drive is beautiful.

Bovey Tracey is great, has the Guild of Craftsmen, with an exhibition and shop (free!) plus some lovely indie shops - Grace & Favour Home, Home Naturally, Wildmoor Deli, The Cheese Shed, cafes and food shops. Great park to eat a picnic in and plenty of parking too!

Cockington for horses and beautiful green
Totnes for shops and quirky stalls
Broadsands beach near Brixham and walk over the cliffs - you can sometimes see dolphins jumping out at sea! Lovely walk
Dartmoor - anywhere!

Meant to add, cafe 3sixty in Bovey is nice for lunch/coffee and cake, as is Home Farm Cafe which is about 1 minute outside of Bovey. And if you want to stretch your legs on the moors, you can be at Haytor within five minutes or so!

Not a town, but the cider press centre at Dartington has some lovely shops

Another vote for Tavistock. Lovely little town.

Topsham, near Exeter, is lovely and the previously mentioned Dart's Farm is on the outskirts.

Exeter seemed to have a range of shops including independent stores when I was there in December. Topsham looked beautiful seen from the train.

Newton Abbot you say?

Well that's easy, a day out at Trago Mills, can't beat it! 🤔

(If you know, you just know)

Darts Farm is overrated. Exeter lovely. Totnes nice. Stop by at Buckfast Abbey on the way to Exeter which is a nice place to stop, nice gardens, hey presto.

Newton Abbot is a really standard looking market town (being generous there) not picturesque in the slightest. Loads of estate agents and charity shops! However, a short drive from loads of lovely places...so a good base if you don't mind. Depending on who you are with there are loads of tourist attractions such as the River Dart Country Park, Dartmoor, House of Marbles Bovey Tracey, Teignmouth, Shaldon, Dawlish, Babbacombe (and model village), Dartington. Exeter is a typical city nothing special to Devon I'd say.

@5475878237NC

Newton Abbot is a really standard looking market town (being generous there) not picturesque in the slightest. Loads of estate agents and charity shops! However, a short drive from loads of lovely places...so a good base if you don't mind. Depending on who you are with there are loads of tourist attractions such as the River Dart Country Park, Dartmoor, House of Marbles Bovey Tracey, Teignmouth, Shaldon, Dawlish, Babbacombe (and model village), Dartington. Exeter is a typical city nothing special to Devon I'd say.

Erm, Teignmouth looks nice from a distance but is largely unattractive in town. Dawlish ditto, apart from the nature reserve or beach, which is more Dawlish Warrren than Dawlish itself.

Exeter has a good city centre, lovely cathedral, lovely Quay on the river, and lots of green spaces for kids to run around in.

I live locally to Newton abbot.
Totnes is lovely but steep! Bovey Tracey is pretty but not really great for shopping. Has some lovely tea rooms though. Parke at Bovey is lovely too. You can park in the centre of Bovey and walk through the play park along the river and out onto the old railway line. Nice easy flat but pretty walk. Tea room at the main national trust car park too.
Ullacoombe farm shop on the way to haytor from Bovey is lovely. Great cafe and farm shop + butcher. Also great for kids as playbarn and animals to see.
Widdecombe in the moor is lovely. On several days a week there is currently a craft market running. Great tea rooms and gift shops and beautiful scenery! Just over half an hour from Newton Abbot.
Trago mills is an experience! You literally can buy just about everything there. Clothes, food, garden centre, new kitchen! You name it it's there!!! It's a stack it high sell I'm cheep shop! But well worth a visit!
Shaldon is also a very pretty town. On the coast/estuary mouth opposite teignmouth. Smugglers cove through a tunnel from the car park onto a shingle beach. Town in opposite direction but again is pretty. Can pop across the river to teignmouth too.